Cori clung to Zack’s hand as he pulled her through the Saturday night crowd at the Waterin’ Hole. The establishment was ancient and worn, its walls plastered with yellowed framed photographs and local memorabilia such as high school banners and trophies. Probably because the owner had graduated here in Cheatham County, or so Zack claimed. The patrons were working-class, raucous, and here for a good time, the atmosphere friendly.
Still, Cori was nervous about meeting Zack’s friends in a social setting, Eve Marshall in particular. Oh, Cori could take her in a fair catfight if that was all it came down to, but a rumble would settle nothing. Not when the woman had the respect of and influence over the guys at Station Five.
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. She’d like to think the fragile connection they’d begun to develop the day of the attempt on Zack had survived.
“We’re about to find out,” she muttered. Thank God she’d talked Shea into meeting them here. Zack had a ton of friends. It wasn’t as if anyone would notice another body jammed in this place, and having her own girlfriend along would be fun.
Cori spotted Eve as they approached a group of tables along the left wall, up front near the bar. The gang had commandeered three tables, and Cori recognized the rest of Zack’s buddies one by one. Seeing them in street clothes and letting their hair down gave her a moment of weirdness, which she quickly dismissed.
Firefighters at play. Yum.
She might be taken, but she wasn’t dead.
The young, drop-dead gorgeous blond, Tommy Skyler, was flirting with the cute barmaid taking their drink order. Howard and Kat Paxton were sitting next to him, chatting with Sean Tanner, Eve Marshall, and a black man Cori hadn’t met. Cori didn’t miss the way Sean’s green eyes narrowed at Eve’s companion—who was really quite striking, with a lean frame and an angular face. Interesting. She wondered whether anyone else felt the captain’s vibe, especially Eve.
The only two not engaged in conversation with the others were the sexy Julian Salvatore and his knockout date, a Hispanic woman with long hair the color of dark cinnamon. The pair seemed sort of apart from the rest, somehow. Julian had an arm slung across the back of the woman’s chair in a familiar manner. While they seemed comfortable with each other, the same ease didn’t appear to apply to the rest of the group. Julian sat with one ankle propped casually on his knee, but his body language radiated tension. Unlike his date, he wasn’t smiling as he picked a napkin with his free hand.
“Hey, Zack!”
Howard’s booming greeting was met with whoops and table thumping, followed by claps on their friend’s back and punches in the arm as he and Cori joined them.
The three women, including Eve, smiled and gave Cori a warm hello, unloading the stress headache waiting to squeeze her temples. Okay, so it wasn’t hugs and air kisses, but it was a start. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about deflecting poison darts all evening.
After the exuberant male thumping ritual died down, she and Zack took seats on the other side of Julian and his lady, across from Tommy. The imp with the pale blue eyes shot Cori a dimpled grin, giving her a thorough once-over, even as he spoke to Zack.
“
Dayam
, Einstein, where’d you find Ms. Booty licious?”
Cori snorted a short laugh, unsure whether to be offended. Something told her the kid was harmless, just afflicted with a case of diarrhea mouth and raging hormones, like most guys his age. Since Zack took Tommy’s comment in stride, she figured she’d guessed right.
“Her name is Cori, and she’s the girl we rescued from the bridge accident last month, dipstick.”
Tommy’s guileless pale eyes widened, and he studied Cori more closely. “Oh, dude! Jeez, I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you. I mean, that day you were all wet and stuff—”
“No problem,” Cori interjected. She did
not
need to be reminded of how awful she looked in the emergency room while Zack fought for his life.
“Anyways, it’s nice to meetcha. Officially, I mean.”
Cori grinned back at Tommy. She couldn’t help it. The kid was an open book, and beautiful as a fallen angel. Someone like him should’ve taken up acting or modeling, and she wondered why he hadn’t.
“You remind me of someone,” she said to him. Which, of course, caused him to puff out his chest and grace her with a lazy, heavy-lidded look fringed with thick, dusky lashes that might’ve scorched her underwear had she been ten years younger.
“Most people say I resemble Brad Pitt—you know, before he got old.”
Old?
She barely managed to stifle a laugh. “No, that’s not who I was thinking.”
His face fell. “Really?”
“Yeah, let’s see. . . . I’ve got it! You remind me of Robert Redford when he was young.”
“Who?” He appeared genuinely baffled.
“Oh, God,” Zack groaned. “You are
such
a loser.”
Tommy shot him the bird. “Wasn’t talking to you, geek.”
“Get your own date, pretty boy,” Zack returned, putting his arm around her.
“Maybe I will.”
Their banter held an affectionate tone Cori suspected was the usual routine with the men. She relaxed even more, beginning to enjoy herself very much.
The barmaid took the rest of their drink orders. Everyone ordered longnecks, except for Julian, who asked for Patrón Silver, and Howard and Cori, who ordered Cokes. No one commented on the lieutenant’s abstinence, so Cori guessed he wasn’t a drinker.
“Cori, this is my good friend Carmelita Gutierrez,” Julian said from beside her. “
Dulce
, this is Zack’s beauty, Corrine Shannon.”
“Hello,” Cori said. Carmelita returned her greeting. She was poised and confident, but not stuffy. Were she and Julian lovers? Hard to tell. Before Cori could speculate further, Eve walked over to introduce her companion to Cori and Zack. From this, and the way the man’s dark eyes darted over the group, Cori surmised he hadn’t hung with them before.
“Hey, guys, this is Drake Bowers,” Eve said, hooking her arm through his. “He teaches choir at Sugarland High School.” Her date smiled, nodding to them.
Drake struck Cori as a polite, shy man. He was also quite good-looking, in spite of the dreads Cori didn’t care for on any man. Still, he couldn’t hold a candle to the hard, uncompromising Sean Tanner, with his harsh features and sad eyes.
Who took a long draw of his beer, skewering the unsuspecting teacher with a gaze sharp enough to cut glass.
Whoa. She hoped never to get on the captain’s shit list. Did Eve know Sean was simmering on a low boil?
“Who’s up for pool?” Tommy bounded from his seat, pointing to an open table.
Howard rose, towering over everyone else. “I am. Girls against guys?”
“Woo-hoo! Count me in,” Kat yelled. “Come on, ladies, who’s with me?”
“I’m in,” Eve said.
Eve and Kat had a head start on the female bonding, Cori noted. They shared an easy camaraderie, and Kat fit in well with the group. Thinking of her own brothers and their tense, complicated relationship, Cori was blindsided with an attack of wistfulness, but shrugged it off. She had Zack, and Shea, who’d become the sister she’d always wanted.
As if she’d conjured her friend, Shea materialized at her side and hugged her tight. Her curly brown hair fell in unruly waves to her shoulders and tickled Cori’s nose.
“Sorry I’m late! I had a terrible time getting away from the ER this evening.”
“You’re not. We’re just getting started.”
Her friend took Tommy’s vacated seat as another round of introductions ensued. At the other end of the table, Julian started a conversation with Drake, asking him about his high school students, while Sean listened and sipped his beer.
Shea stuck out a hand to Zack. “Hi, I’m Shea Ford. I don’t think we’ve actually met.”
Zack glanced at her hand in surprise, then shook it briefly, obviously charmed by her straightforward attitude. “I’m Zack, but I guess Cori’s told you about me.”
“Every second she’s awake.” She rolled her eyes and wrinkled her pert, freckled nose. “She’s got all sorts of cute pet names for you, like Super—”
Cori swatted at her across the table, gasping. “Ooh, some friend you are, breaking the sacred Girl Code!”
“I don’t want to know,” Zack said, cheeks reddening.
“I was only going to say Super
brain
.”
Zack wasn’t biting. “Jesus.” He waved a hand, eager to change the subject. “Thanks for letting Cori crash at your apartment while I’m on shift. We owe you.”
“No sweat. We’ve had fun hanging out, but I hope they catch whoever’s behind the attacks on you, fast. Shane tells me this Banning creep is a frickin’ ghost,” she said in disgust.
Zack nodded. “Yeah. It’s like the guy doesn’t exist. They don’t have prints on him and he’s probably altered his appearance more than once. They can’t even get a physical resemblance from the most-wanted lists.”
Cori made a face. “Ugh. Do we have to talk about this tonight?”
Zack took her hand, brought it to his lips. “You’re right. I’m sorry, baby. Let’s just have fun.”
“I’m going to barf,” Shea said.
They laughed, and Zack steered the topic toward how Shea met Cori. Shea entertained him with the story of how she had a flat tire on I-49, nobody around for miles and her brother not answering his cell phone. Dubious help came in the form of Cori, having just arrived in Sugarland, SUV loaded with her stuff. Like Shea, she had no clue how to change a tire. But how hard could it be?
One hour later, giggling and covered in grease, they were well on their way to becoming fast friends. They got the flat tire off, but never managed to get the spare on—Shane finally arrived to save the day. By the time he was finished, she’d warmed to Cori as she did to very few people so quickly, and Cori had a place to stay while she went apartment hunting.
The barmaid returned and Shea ordered a glass of white wine. Howard and Tommy sauntered over, and Cori caught the very interested gleam in the younger man’s pale eyes as he studied Shea. Howard spoke first.
“Man, the girls kicked our butts. Winners play.” Noticing Shea, the lieutenant cocked his head. “Hello, I’m Howard. You look really familiar.”
Shea’s merry attitude sobered a bit. “My twin brother’s a detective. He worked your case a few months ago. Not that Shane blabbed about you or the details, but I read the papers—”
“Your brother is Shane Ford?” Howard gave her a brilliant smile. “Any sister of his is a friend of mine and Kat’s.”
The server handed Shea her glass of wine and left. Shea looked up at the big man, hesitant. “That’s nice of you to say, but . . .” She bit her lip, then sighed. “My brother still has nightmares about your shooting. He blames himself for what happened to you.”
Howard looked stunned. “Christ, why? He did everything he could to break the case. Nobody could’ve predicted what was going down.”
“Well, that’s my brother. He feels like he failed.”
“No way in hell. I’ll tell him myself.”
“Just don’t mention I said anything, if you don’t mind.”
“I won’t,” the lieutenant promised. “Thanks for telling me.”
Tommy cleared his throat. “Do I get an introduction to the new babe?”
Shea stiffened, and Cori smirked inwardly as she and her friend exchanged a knowing look. Hollywood beautiful or not, Shea had a real problem with exactly Tommy’s type: immature, ruled by his libido, and he possessed a vocabulary that included words like “dude” and “babe.”
“I’m Shea,” she said coolly. She did not, Cori noted, extend her hand, as she’d done to greet Zack.
“Tommy Skyler.” His open, infectious grin seemed to have no positive effect on the object of his attentions. He was nothing, however, if not persistent. “Any good at pool?”
She gazed up at him from under her lashes. Took a leisurely sip of her wine. “I hold my own.”
Everyone knew she wasn’t referring to pool. The line was drawn in the sand. She wasn’t the least bit impressed by his boyish charm, and made no bones about it. They all watched, avid spectators as the couple thrust and parried.
“Want to go a round?” His voice, low and sexy, dripped with the double entendre.
“No, thank you.”
“Afraid you’ll lose?”
She rolled her shoulders back, lifted her chin. “I’m an ER nurse. Very little frightens me.”
“Except a simple game of pool.”
Touché. In a blinding moment of clarity, Cori knew this man wasn’t the dumb pretty boy he let everyone believe. She wondered if Shea noticed, too.
Apparently so. Her friend’s lips curved in challenge. “Let’s play.”
Wolf whistles followed them as Tommy took her hand and led her to another open table. Picking up on her misgivings, Zack squeezed Cori’s hand.
“Don’t worry; she’ll be fine with Tommy.”